THREATS AND RESPONSES: MONEY TRAIL

THREATS AND RESPONSES: MONEY TRAIL; U.S. Says Saudis Help in Tracing Funds Linked to Hijackers

By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS

Published: November 26, 2002

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25—
The Bush administration vigorously defended the Saudi government today, describing it as cooperating fully in an investigation into payments from a Saudi princess that might have reached some Sept. 11 hijackers.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who was traveling to Mexico City, voiced confidence in Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, and his wife, Princess Haifa. She sent payments over the course of four years to the family of a Saudi man in San Diego who, investigators said, befriended two of the hijackers.

''I think it's unlikely that Prince Bandar or Her Royal Highness would do anything that would support terrorist activity,'' Secretary Powell said.

That personal endorsement, which was unusual in the context of a continuing F.B.I. investigation, underscored Prince Bandar's prominence in Washington. The prince has become close to successive American presidents, while not shying from criticizing their Mideast policies.

But on Capitol Hill and elsewhere, the disclosure of the payments continued to feed doubts about the Saudi commitment to cracking down on Islamic militants. Lawmakers from both parties urged President Bush to demand more from the Saudis.

But Richard A. Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said the Saudi effort to root out terrorism and financing for attacks had been ''very strong,'' though ''there is always more to be done.''

''We've worked together on law enforcement,'' Mr. Boucher said of the Saudis. ''We've worked together on financial matters; we've worked together on intelligence, military and other aspects of cooperation against terrorism.''

Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, was equally supportive. ''First of all, a country is not under investigation,'' Mr. Fleisher said. ''A certain set of circumstances involving a transfer is being looked at.''

Mr. Fleischer indicated that the F.B.I. investigation would not jeopardize relations between the countries. ''I don't think you can define relations with a country around the fact that an investigation may be taking place,'' he said. ''It's a much more complicated world than that.''

But critics charge that the administration has been excessively lenient toward Saudi Arabia, which is a major supplier of oil for the United States and would be a much desired ally in any American-led military strike against Iraq. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 were Saudis, and law enforcement officials suspect that some fundamentalist Saudis are financing other operations through international charities.

Critics like Senators Joseph I. Lieberman, a Democrat, and Mitch McConnell, a Republican, asserted over the weekend that the Saudi government had been duplicitous in the fight against terror, denouncing the attacks while secretly placating militants.

As Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, put it today, ''The list goes on and on of Saudi failures and the central role that they have played in one way or another in the rise of Islamic fundamentalism all over the world.''

Prince Turki al-Faisal, the brother of Princess Haifa and a former head of Saudi intelligence, said his sister donated to numerous charities and had not been aware that funds were being diverted. ''She is chagrined that she could be involved in something like this,'' he told CNN.

He dismissed allegations of official Saudi support for Al Qaeda as ''half truths'' and ''fantasies.'' The Saudi kingdom, he insisted, is a target of terrorists, not a supporter. ''No one in their right mind would contribute to that,'' Prince Turki said.

Adel al-Jubeir, a spokesman for the Saudi Foreign Ministry, did not respond to calls seeking comment today. But in remarks broadcast on American television, Mr. Jubeir said Princess Haifa had believed she was giving money to a needy Saudi family and had been unaware of the family's relationship with the future hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhazmi.

''She is very upset by the whole mess,'' Mr. Jubeir said on NBC's ''Today.'' ''She has ordered her office to investigate everything.''

Mr. Jubeir said terrorists had taken advantage of Saudis' ''generosity and our innocence and our naïveté, even.''

''They conned us,'' he said. ''They took our money. And they took some of it for evil purposes. But to say that the Saudis did this, or that Saudi Arabia tolerates this, is absolutely not true.''